Secretary of Weld County oversight board says board member has harassed, retaliated against her

The secretary of an oversight board for Weld County's elected officials said she filed a complaint against a board member with the Colorado Division of Civil Rights, citing more than a year of alleged harassment and inappropriate conduct during meetings, among other accusations.

Linda Kane, who has worked as the secretary for the Weld County Council for nearly two years, addressed the council publicly during its regular meeting Monday, speaking out against a proposal by council members to form a whistleblower program independent from the Board of Weld County Commissioners. Among a list of complaints, Kane alleged Councilman Michael Grillos swears and becomes hostile during meetings and "has said lewd, sexually vulgar things to me about one of our assistant county attorneys. Since filing this complaint in February, Mr. Grillos has continued retaliation efforts against me," she said, pointing to those incidents as reasons why she doesn't think the council should be in charge of a whistleblower program.

What's next?

The council is set to meet again 6:30 p.m. July 18 at the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O St. Members are slated to discuss the whistleblower program.

Grillos, reached briefly by phone Wednesday, declined to comment before hanging up. But during the meeting he denied the accusations, calling them "patently false." He also spoke in support of the whistleblower program, telling the board it could be used as a way for both county employees and members of the public to express serious concerns about the county.

Kane declined to comment further about the accusations and civil rights complaint Wednesday because, she said, the investigation is ongoing.

Representatives from the Colorado Civil Rights Division said they could not confirm whether the complaint had been filed because of confidentiality rules. Weld County Attorney Bruce Barker also said he could not discuss the complaint.

During Monday's meeting, though, Kane and Grillos were more vocal.

At the two-hour mark of an already-contentious meeting, Kane asked council Chairman Gene Stille if she could address the board regarding the whistleblower program. In her statement, Kane referred to herself as a whistleblower, saying she felt it would be inappropriate for the council to oversee a whistleblower program because of the way she felt the council handled her concerns. She also pointed to the May meeting, where, according to the minutes, Councilman Jordan Jemiola said the program, so far, is a joke and that it would be a conflict of interest for the program to be managed by the county commissioners.

"The only joke here is the council running any type of whistleblower program," Kane said.

Since filing the complaint, she said, Grillos and Councilman Brett Abernathy have retaliated against her.

She said Abernathy sent an email June 3 to Barker about her job performance, pointing out a dispute about the January agenda.

"Mr. Abernathy, you were the president for the whole of last fiscal year. Not once did you ever address my work performance. Neither did Mr. Jemiola," she said, adding that the council members have not answered her calls, texts or emails recently. "Very immature retaliation efforts, I must say."

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Jemiola disputed the idea that he did not respond to concerns Kane sent via email. He said he replied, referring her to human resources.

"I stated that HR would be a better option," he said. "I'm not a counselor. I'm not qualified to handle HR issues. I have absolutely zero HR training."

Abernathy questioned how Kane obtained the email sent to Barker about her job performance, saying it was marked confidential when he sent it to Barker.

Kane said she would have to consult with an attorney before telling him how she received the email.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Stille said he felt Kane's statements to the board were true, though he didn't want to say anything derogatory about the county. He said Grillos made crude statements about an employee in the county attorney's office and he felt Kane's assessment that she had been harassed was accurate.

Still, he said he would have preferred for the issue to be resolved sooner.

"As far as her making a statement at the council, it is what it is," Stille said. "I would've preferred that we would have never have gotten that far."

The council is planning to discuss Kane during its July meeting in an executive session. While Kane can elect to have the discussion about her in public, it is unclear whether she will choose that option.

Councilman Charles Tucker said he thinks Grillos should recuse himself from the discussion.

"I believe Councilman Grillos has an issue with that employee, and I do believe due to that fact, he could not render a fair opinion," he said.

Grillos countered that by saying: "I disagree, I can certainly be impartial and very fact-based."

— Sara Knuth covers government for The Tribune. You can reach her at (970) 392-4412, sknuth@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @SaraKnuth.